In Memoriam Aleksander Litvinenko (Jos de Putter, VPRO 2007)

It started as a possible case of food poisoning but within weeks turned into a grim spectacle of enormous political proportions: Aleksander Litvinenko, former member of the Russian secret service, died in his place of residence London last November, after having been poisoned with a radioactive substance.
The search for the possible perpetrators lead to a political difficult situation that reminded us of the dark days of the Cold War.
Three years ago Aleksander Litvinenko told his life story to documentary maker Jos De Putter. It is a wild tale full of conspiracies, assassination attempts and imputations. Litvinenko talks about his time with the secret service, about his experience in Chechnya, and in particular about the series of bomb attacks on Russian territory that led to the seizure of power by Vladimir Putin. According to Litvinenko those attacks were the work of the secret service.
After Litvinenko's funeral in December 2006, Backlight spoke to Litvinenko's widow. Marina Litvinenko is writing a book about her husband. The book will be published in May 2007 and the film rights have already been sold to Columbia Pictures. In this unique interview, she speaks about how they first met, how they fled to England and she speaks about Aleksander´s death agony.
We also see Litvinenko's father Walter, with Chechen leader and Litvinenko's closest friend Akhmed Zakayev and the prominent Russian exile Vladmir Bukovsky, also a friend of Litvinenko.

The result is an impressive 55-minute portrait of a former spy whose death brought him worldwide fame.

Directors: Jos de Putter and Masja Novikova

VPRO Backlight 2007

For more info, please visit: http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/34834898/

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• litvinenko
• putin
• Russia
• KGB
• FSB
• murder
• spy
• death
• chechnya
• Zakayev
• Bukovsky

[MoscowMuslims]

Aleksandr Shahid InhaAlla

[dicaprio20us]

alhamdoulilah he died as a muslim ! i cried when i heard his father talk about him. may Allah have mercy on his soul , bless him and his family .

[Lana569]

Путин - лживая тварь и убийца

[ElLiBoT966]

dirt that somone could place cancer upon somone like this, why not a bullet why a substance '250,000,000,000 ttimes stronger than cyonide! R.I.P

[dinitis]

@privetgreetings It is nice that you can confuse a country with an organisation. I guess the people of former USSR, if they had the information about what KGB FSB and oligarchs were doing to the country,, would be as happy as you are.

[xakervu]

@privetgreetings, he betrayed the criminal system that putin and his dogs implemented in russia.

[privetgreetings]

@xakervu He betrayed the country and the organisation he was working for. What kind of honesty is that?

[privetgreetings]

@xakervu What kind of honesty is that, betraying the organisation and country that trusted you?

[xakervu]

@privetgreetings, i wouldn't say he was a traitor, on the contrary he was honest man who loved his country. putin and his satanic government are real traitors of Russia

[MrFabolous1231]

I highly doubt that Alexander Litvinenko will be forgotten about after all the man is in my Physical science book........I believe he didn't die in vain he spoke the truth and suffered the consequences he showed the entire globe that nothing stay's buried forever.

[dazmin100]

Hero

[privetgreetings]

Traitors like Litvinenko deserve to die.